A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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78 INTRODUCTION account is also taken of the fact that the filling of the chambers, courtyards, etc., was of identically the same material as the bricks, consisting as it did of walls that had been washed in and consolidated by countless storms of wind and rain, it is a marvel that we were able to do as much as we did. Before we and our workers had obtained experience, we found that in some cases we were cutting into walling instead of into filling, the latter frequently being harder than the former. Fortunately, no irretrievable damage was done, but an excess of caution on the part of some of the men led to their claiming that there was no doorway into chambers that were being excavated. In such cases, one man, who seemed to have quite a flair for that particular work, was put to the task of finding the doorway, and during the latter part of last season he did nothing else. We finally devised a method of clearing chambers, which seemed to be the best for mud-brick buildings of an early date. An experienced man will first try to find the limits of the chamber from above for a short distance down. When this has been done, he will endeavor to get down to the foundations of the chamber in the middle and feel for the walls from this point. As the foundations are thicker than the walling above them, there is little risk of damage to the walling itself. As the walls are set in from the foundations at practically the same distance in all chambers, the pickman can tell within a few centimetres when he is coming upon them. In most cases, the foundations are well preserved, and bricks are readily extracted from them for measurement. This method, coupled with the fact that the laborer works horizontally against the face of the filling instead of vertically downward, assists in the preservation of pottery, tablets, etc., which are liable to damage from the pick when approached from above. Two plans are given of the palace at "A" (Plates XXI and XXII). The first shows the early building with its annex separated from all extraneous matter. The second plan gives the position of all the later walling found on the site together with the exact position of each of the graves of the cemetery. This plan has also been used to mark the positions of the various sections shown in Plate XXIII. To avoid confusion, a second datum line has been drawn in dots and dashes 5 m above the zero-datum line, which, of course, passes through the thicknesses of walls and foundations. When a level is mentioned in the text, it is invariably taken from the zero-datum line. In practically every case where an object is mentioned in the text, its registered number and the museum to which it was sent follow it in parentheses, as, for instance, Reg. No. 4321; Field. This will enable the reader to trace the final resting-place of every object, and by means of its number to procure further information about it, if he should so desire. In the line drawings, the registered number of each object is also marked on the object. On the left is given the number of the burial from which it came. Those objects without a burial number were found lying in the debris mound unaccompanied by other objects.
TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMMA The map appended to this volume includes that portion of Kish which ex- tends from the ruined mud-brick buildings, dated to the period of the first dynasty of Babylon, that lie on the western side of the Ziggurat of Tell Ahaimir, to the complex of mounds away to the east, known locally as Tell Ingharra. It has been adapted from the air-map made by the Royal Air Force, by kind permission of the Air Vice-Marshal, in February, 1924. Though this air-map has proved of very great value in our work, it could not, for want of clearness, be included in this volume without alteration. And this is, of course, due to the peculiar characteristics of the country around Kish, which is entirely bare of trees and crops, except for one season in the year, and bare of mounds of imposing height, excepting Tell Ahaimir and Tell Ingharra. It is the intention of the expedition to publish this map with every future volume that is issued, adding to it in each instance, the outlines of buildings that have been completely excavated, and are subjects of the volumes issued. Several excavations made by us at "T," "Z," "P," and "W" are incomplete, and it is useless to include these buildings in the map before they have been finished and described. "A" falls in the former category, and its plan, therefore, will be found on the map. The contour lines of the mounds must be regarded as provisional only, for no systematic levelling has yet been done, with the exception of that at mound "A." To level properly the whole of the enormous site of Kish and Harsagkalamma would require a very considerable amount of time, which the members of the expedition with more urgent work to perform have not yet been able to afford. After a careful tracing of the air-map had been made, each mound was visited in turn and the contours were filled in by hand, where these were not sufficiently clear in the tracing. The results are, we think, sufficiently accurate to allow of their being placed before the archaeological world. Our camp "K" was situated just below the southern corner of the Ziggurat at Tell Ahaimir "Z", on the edge of a fiat stretch of ground, which is one of the lowest areas of Kish and its neighbourhood. Our zero-datum line, to which all the levels at Kish, which have been and still remain to be made, are to be referred, was fixed within the confines of the camp "K". The summit of Ziggurat "Z" at Tell Ahaimir is about 19 m above our zero- level and the lower mounds that surround it average 5 m above. The Ziggurat has a core of burnt brick which is dated to the period of the first dynasty of Babylon and an outer casing of sun-dried brick of the period of Nebuchadnezzar. We do not yet know with certainty if earlier buildings than those of the first dynasty of Babylon lie beneath the Ziggurat and its temple. For a considerable distance to the west of the Ziggurat, there are numbers ,,.of mounds of varying heights and sizes, all linked together by lower mounds. 79
Page 2: LIBRARY >A. \^ Class\\ 4^
Page 10 and 11: PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AME
Page 12 and 13: 68 CONTENTS Lipped Flat-based Potte
Page 14 and 15: LIST OF PLATES XXL Plan of Palace "
Page 17 and 18: PREFACE This volume contains the fi
Page 19 and 20: A SUMERIAN PALACE AND THE ''A" CEME
Page 21: INTRODUCTION 77 Only three burials
Page 25 and 26: TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMM
Page 27 and 28: TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMM
Page 29 and 30: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 49 and 50: — THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A
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THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
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POTTERY This chapter deals with the
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TOOLS AND WEAPONS A considerable nu
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PERSONAL ORNAMENTS MEDALLIONS Plate
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STONE VESSELS Plates XXXVIII, No. 1
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NOTES 215 " A very similar dish to
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. AN
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ANT
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. VA
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 24
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I FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
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Field museum of natural history. AN
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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